The internet is too large a part of our lives, and our children’s, to remain
ungoverned

The social changes unleashed by the internet have been so powerful and so rapid that there has been a temptation to regard them as both irreversible and irresistible. For example, the web enables us to access information with almost magical ease. Human nature dictates that a portion of that information will be pornographic. But does it therefore follow that we should make no attempt to restrict access to it?

At a summit today in Downing Street, ministers, campaigners and internet firms will meet to discuss this issue, about which David Cameron professes himself gravely concerned, both as a politician and as a parent. Much of the focus, in advance, has been on child pornography. Yet while there is an obvious need for curbs on such vile and, indeed, illegal material, tough action on this score must not become an excuse to ignore the elephant in the room – the ease with which children can access indecent material. There is a huge catalogue of evidence showing that they are being exposed to pornography at an ever younger age (some studies put it as young as eight, or even six); that such material is increasingly extreme, violent and degrading, especially to women; and that this is warping children’s understanding of sex in profoundly alarming ways.

When concerns have been raised about this previously, technology firms and internet service providers have insisted that little can be done (conveniently, given the profits they make from such traffic). Some claim that filtering such material would be censorship. Yet society long ago decided that particular material should be sold only to over-18s. That judgment does not change because it is available online, rather than in a magazine or on VHS.

The next objection is that taking action would be technologically impossible, or that children would circumvent any restrictions. No one is saying that it is possible to block all pornography, but it can certainly be made a lot harder to access. Filtering systems should, as suggested by Claire Perry MP, the Prime Minister’s adviser on this issue, be on by default. Google and other search engines should also be asked to make “SafeSearch” options more prominent, or even the norm. For other users, it will be a minor inconvenience to change the settings; for techno-illiterate parents, it will be a lifeline.

Ultimately, the internet is too large a part of our lives, and our children’s, to remain ungoverned. It is both technically feasible and morally right for parents, politicians and web companies to restrict young people’s access to pornography. If we do not act, we will be damaging our children in ways that we are only just beginning to appreciate.